Baby Skink lizard born at South Staffordshire College's Animal Zone

South Staffordshire College is celebrating the birth of their very first baby skink lizard at the Animal Zone, Rodbaston campus.

Mother and baby Monkey Tailed skink lizards

The College are privileged to have a pair of remarkable Monkey tailed skink Corucia zebrata lizards and keepers recently received an excited call over the radio from the reptile keeper who had spotted a baby skink in the litter of their terrarium. When they arrived they were greeted
with the wonderful sight of a stunning baby lizard being zealously guarded by a proud mother. There are few things as rewarding to animal keepers as seeing their rare charges thrive and reproduce and the baby will remain with its parents for up to a year.

The worlds largest skink has a smile like a Cheshire cat and is endangered in the wild. It comes from the far flung Pacific Solomon Islands and these nocturnal lizards are vegetarian and unusually for a lizard, live in a tight knit social group known as a circulus. They climb around in trees and actually live in the forest canopy where many of their food plants are to be found.

Adults can grow to just over 70cm and their tail (as their name suggests) is prehensile which means they can use it to hang on to branches. The females give birth to a single live young up to 30cm long, the large birth size has been likened to a woman giving birth to a six year old!

South Staffordshire College works as part of a global network of zoos and wildlife parks determined to safeguard endangered species for future generations. The Animal Zone is home to over 1000 zoo, companion and agricultural animals covering over 200 species, providing students with a unique opportunity to work with some very interesting animals, not only enhancing their learning but also helping them to gain employment in the highly competitive field of animal management.

The Animal Zone is open to the public at weekends and college holidays and visitors can enjoy the daily "Animal Encounters" and "Meet the Keeper" sessions where they have the opportunity to handle animals and ask questions.